One Of my Favorite Graphic Novels is "303" written by my Favorite author "Garth Ennis" and illustrated by one of my favorite artists "Jacen Burrows". This book is an absolute pleasure to read or even just to look at. Click on the picture below and buy yourself a copy. You will thank me for it ...I hope :-)

I picked up this book in Borders and started reading it and it seemed to be an interesting story line. This coupled with the fact that it was only $10 made me take a chance. I am glad I did as this is good book that really gets you thinking. The basic premise is that some sort of government agent approaches people who have been wronged and offers them a gun with 100 bullets that are untraceable for them to put things right. Of the three stories contained in this first book, the first is by far the best. It is a really good story of gangland Chicago from a street gangs perspective. Very well drawn and good dialogue (even if I had no idea what they were saying half the time). Because it is a Vertigo book the only down side is that it appears to be printed on toilet paper rather than the glossy stuff you get from other publishers.

Collects Punisher Max Vol. 3: Mother Russia and Punisher Max Vol. 4: Up Is Down And Black Is White.

In Mother Russia, The punisher is forced into a suicide mission deep inside Russia with the goal to retrieve a deadly retrovirus.  This story is full of the graphic violence and action the punisher series is famous for but this time with a slightly more military bent.  The artwork is pretty good and really stands out on the premium paper. Fantastic tale with many subplots and twists to keep the reader hooked.  The dialogue and level of violence are off the scale and quite a few scenes have jaw dropping politically incorrect references. I really enjoyed this story. It is probably my favorite Punisher book to date.  

Up is down and Black is White is a mafia based tale based around evil mafia mobster Nicky Cavella who finally figures out what is required to send Frank Castle over the edge (he desecrates his family's grave). The violence that ensues is even shocking for the Punisher and it is an absolute bloodfest. The language and situations are very adult orientated and some of the flashbacks to fill in the background on main characters such as Nicky Cavella are particularly shocking. Highly recommended read for adult audiences only. Artwork is not bad but nothing really special. Collects Punisher #13-24.

*Man of Stone is a 9+

I have always been put off trying out the Hellboy books by the rather simplistic art but I do like the movies. When a chance to purchase the library edition came up at an amazing price I decided to take the plunge. I am glad I did as once you start to read the books the art fits the story perfectly. The art in this huge format library edition in particular looks fantastic. The first story “Seed of destruction” is a great read and it introduces many of the characters I recognize from the movies. The second part “Wake the Devil” continues on with the interesting Ragna RoK Nazi supernatural theme and hammers home the fact I was so wrong to dismiss these books in the past. Minola does a superb job of creating a sense of suspense and horror in these tales. The extras in this book are also top notch.

I used to read Slaine many years ago in 2000AD but it never looked like this. The artwork in this book is very detailed, colorful and unusual. Apparently Clint uses a combination of conventional art and digital manipulation to achieve the lush and often bizarre pictures. What you end up with is a comic strip with art quality and detail that would normally only be reserved for cover art. The two stories in this book are both very enjoyable and extremely violent. Classic Pat Mills work with grotesque characters and situations.

I used to read Slaine many years ago in 2000AD but it never looked like this. The artwork in this book is very detailed, colorful and unusual. Apparently Clint uses a combination of conventional art and digital manipulation to achieve the lush and often bizarre pictures. What you end up with is a comic strip with art quality and detail that would normally only be reserved for cover art. The two stories in this book are both very enjoyable and extremely violent. Classic Pat Mills work with grotesque characters and situations.

Excellent artwork and story. Wanted is a very violent book with a somewhat controversial ending. I think if you enjoy stuff like Punisher Max you will probably enjoy this although there isn’t much in the way of a moral code. Extras are pretty good too.

The book is set in a not very nice part of LA where pests, evil landlords and drug pushers rule the roost and poor people suffer. Our hero is an ex con who is now working as a pest exterminator. Unfortunately the pests are fighting back and his colleagues seem to be just as dangerous. This is an extremely well written book that is full of adult themes and great atmospheric art. Not a book for the squeamish or younger readers but a very intriguing mature read. The main plot twists around and opens up new clues and story lines at a fair old rate. I am hooked and will be out to buy book 2 to find out just what the significance of that scarab really is.  Good value too.

This series of Graphic novels has the strange distinction that it is the only one that my wife has ever read and really enjoyed. If you liked the first two books buying this one is a no brainer. Book 3 is a very addictive read and it is hard to put down when you start. It expands the plot line nicely and seems to have more action and less relationship based story lines.

Review AWOL

If you read the reviews on the back cover you would expect this to be one of the greatest comic books ever written but I found it to be quite unsatisfying. The story feels very one dimensional without any subtle counterplots to keep your interest and it is also very short. I have nothing against animal stories, try the work of William Horwood for some excellent examples of the genre, but this just feels like Disney with shock value to me. It even has the formulaic Disney cute cub character. On the other hand the artwork is a pleasure to behold. Every page is filled with glorious images and a very atmospheric color palette.
Ultimately this book is very pretty to look at but it nothing special to read. If you like Disney movies but would like to see some more gore then this may be the book for you.

I bought this book because I was impressed with artwork , thought the premise of the story was interesting and mainly because it was on sale for only $10 in hardcover. The story was pretty good but I found it very difficult to tell the characters apart as they all looked pretty similar. All in all a very stylish book but a bit weak on script.

I really enjoyed this book. The story was well written and it captured Conan perfectly. The artwork was beautifully colored and a pleasure to look at. It is done without bold inks so the images have a bit of a water color look to them. At first I found them to look a little lacking in detail but I soon warmed to the lush style. Nice biography of Howard at the end too.

There are many Graphical novels that are quite a challenge to read. They often have confusing cluttered art work and convoluted story lines. This is not one of them. Conan, God In The Bowl is a straight forward classic adventure tale with a bit of murder mystery thrown in for good measure. The artwork is perfectly suited to the subject matter and great to look at. The character of Conan is built up nicely from the first volume and I found it difficult to put the book down once I started.

Review AWOL

I really enjoyed this book. The story was well written and it captured Conan perfectly. The artwork was beautifully colored and a pleasure to look at. It is done without bold inks so the images have a bit of a water color look to them. At first I found them to look a little lacking in detail but I soon warmed to the lush style. Nice biography of Howard at the end too.

A collection of crossovers between the stars of DC and the stars of Top Cow. #1: Darkness/ Batman was a must read for me as it filled in a few blanks the Darkness Omnibus I read recently. This is the first Batman I have read in about 20 years and I actually enjoyed it although it did feel to me as if they were throwing in characters just for the sake of it. #2: Witchblade/JLA. Not a bad story but a little confusing and techy at the start. I am not a big fan of JLA and think the whole thing is a little pointless. A bit like using a 20,000 pound hydraulic press to crack a walnut. #3: Darkness/ Superman. I really enjoyed this story of Ecstacado trying to become the mob lord of Metropolis. I am not a big superman fan but this was definitely one of the better crossovers. The pacing was good and it filled in some more blanks for me in the Darkness story. Art was pretty good too. #4: JLA/ Cyberforce. I am not familiar with Cyberforce at all but found this story to be enjoyable if a little formulaic. Why is it in every story featuring superman they have to make him vulnerable in some way regardless of who his adversary is? Artwork was pretty good in this tale too.

This is a hefty monster of a book (1280 pages) that is almost too heavy to read comfortably in bed. The artwork is vibrant and although I don’t normally read this type of mainstream graphic novel I was intrigued enough by the Garth Ennis connection to give it a go. There are times when the story arcs can be a little bit confusing (story probably running in parallel with Witchblade) but it is generally an easy read. Some of the double page spreads can be physically hard to read especially if you are like me and don’t want to damage the books spine. I didn’t enjoy the “Tales of the Darkness” stories as much but the preview of volume 2 was right back on form.